Can President Trump escape the Epstein files leak?
Thousands of newly released Epstein documents bring new questions.
The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on Tuesday, November 18, on a bill that would force the Justice Department to release all records related to disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The vote came after President Donald Trump called on House Republicans to vote in favor of releasing the full Epstein file, a stunning reversal after previously warning Republicans not to fall into Epstein’s “trap.”
“It’s time to move on from the Democratic hoax perpetrated by the lunatics on the radical left to distract from the great successes of the Republican Party, including the recent Democratic ‘shutdown’ victory,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social on November 16.
Mr. Trump, along with other members of the United States and international power elites, partied with Mr. Epstein in New York and Florida in the 1990s and 2000s. President Trump has said his friendship with Epstein ended in the 2000s, that he had nothing to do with Epstein’s crimes, and that his political opponents are trying to smear him by suggesting otherwise.
Here’s what you need to know about the upcoming vote.
When will the House vote on the Epstein file?
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he believed the vote to release the files should help quell any suspicions that President Trump had any connection to Epstein’s abuse. He later told reporters that the vote would take place on the afternoon of November 18.
“He had nothing to hide,” Johnson told reporters on Nov. 17 about Trump. “He and I had the same concern: We want to make sure the victims of these heinous crimes are fully protected from exposure.”
Supporters of releasing the files say they share those concerns, and a resolution that House members are expected to vote on would allow the Justice Department to withhold or redact identifying information about victims.
What does this bill do?
The Epstein File Transparency Act requires the Department of Justice to release “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the Department’s possession relating to the investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein.”
Representatives Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) are the lead authors of the bill, which they say would target documents related to Epstein’s co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, potential flight and travel records, and individuals named or mentioned in connection with Epstein.
What does House do?
The Epstein bill already had enough support to pass the House. It is now expected to pass the House after President Trump urged Republicans to vote in favor of the bill.
All House Democrats and four House Republicans signed an expulsion petition to force a vote to release the files. Massey expects more than 100 Republicans and all Democrats to vote in favor of the bill.
If the House passes the resolution, it will be transferred to the Senate, where it will need to be voted on before it can be sent to Trump for his signature. Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune declined to comment on the bill’s plans.
Job and Tano Nguyen, US TOD. Reuters
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Contact us at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow us at X @fern_cerv_.
